College Republicans Report Encourages GOP Leaders To Stay Quiet On Their Opposition To Marriage Equality

A report drafted by the College Republican National Committee (CRNC), surprisingly isn't encouraging the Republican party to make a major shift towards accepting marriage equality.

We say "surprisingly" because it appears that many young people within the GOP seemed to differ from the party's elders and understand that marriage equality is not only inevitable, but something that should be supported.

Unfortunately, the CRNC report (provided by ThinkProgress), doesn't show the group encouraging their fellow Republicans to change their position--they're simply encouraging Republicans to be quiet about it in order to potentially attract voters.

It is important for Republicans to bear in mind that young voters warmed to President Obama long before his position on gay marriage “evolved,” and that there is no consensus in either party on the issue. Additionally, there is a “middle ground” approach of letting states decide the issue, a position that has been espoused by some prominent Republicans like Marco Rubio. Nonetheless, there is hardly an appetite from this generation to see the GOP crusade against same-sex marriage.

In the short run, as we wait for the Supreme Court rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8, the best course of action for the party may be to promote the diversity of opinion on the issue within its ranks (after all, for quite some time, former vice president Dick Cheney was to the left of President Obama on same-sex marriage) and to focus on acceptance and support for gay people as separate from the definition of marriage.

Where the Republican Party will run into the most trouble over this issue is when it is not winning on any of the more prominent issues, either – the economy and spending. If a candidate is compelling enough on economic opportunity and spending, they may well be able to overcome a difference of opinion with young voters on same-sex marriage.

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What do you think of the CRNC's push for a "middle ground"??

Should they be hammering home the message that the GOP needs to get on board the marriage equality train--not only to win votes, but because it's the right thing to do?